08.12.2019.
New Helicopters Strengthen Capabilities of the Serbian Armed Forces
The Air Force members can already feel the improvement of their financial status and that is important, if not decisive for performing the profession of a pilot, since that is a profession that you have to love first of all, and which you have to be dedicated to - pointed out Lieutenant Colonel Dobrosav Drndarević- pilot of Mi-35 helicopter and Major Bojan Trkulja - pilot of Mi-17 helicopter, appearing in the programme the “Morning” at “Prva” Television.
Speaking about the new helicopters of the Serbian Armed Forces which were presented yesterday on the airfield “Colonel-Pilot Milenko Pavlović” in Batajnica, Lieutenant Colonel Drndarević said that because of their appearance, Mi-35 helicopters are called “the flying tanks” by the West, while the Russians call them the “crocodiles”, and he said that those helicopters are at the very world top in every way. He added that, if compared to what they had had until that moment, the procurement of those helicopters was truly a great step forward, and both technical and technological advancement of helicopter squadron, and consequently of the Serbian Armed Forces.
- The helicopter Mi-35 is intended for execution of combat tasks. It is a multipurpose fighter helicopter. Its basic task is the use in combat actions, in support of land forces on the ground. Apart from that basic task, it can perform an entire range of other tasks such as cargo transport, air space reconnaissance, medical transport of the sick and injured. It is an excellent helicopter that is capable of executing complex tasks as well - Lieutenant Colonel Drndarević stated.
With regard to the training on the new aircraft, Lieutenant Colonel Drndarević pointed out that it had been intensive and demanding, and he added that the professional advancement of pilots helped raising capabilities of the entire armed forces to respond to all challenges and threats.
According to Major Trkulja, multipurpose helicopters Mi-8 have already been in use in our parts for five decades, and the younger generation of helicopters Mi-17 is a successor of that generation and apart from the essential - transport use, it is capable of performing numerous tasks, such as fire extinguishing, carrying external cargo, search and rescue tasks, and it can even achieve serious effects in combat actions.
Major Trkulja said that training to fly the new helicopters had lasted for six months and that the training had been conducted in the best manner possible, and that everybody were satisfied with the results.
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